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Words of the Week

A person who isn’t right in the eyes of God must be afraid of death because it means eternal damnation with no rest for the wicked as they burn in fire and brimstone (Psalms 9:17; Matthew 3:7-12, 5:21-22, 13:38-43, 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Acts 24:24-25; Romans 2:1-16; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2 Peter 2:4-9; Jude 6, 7, 15; Revelation 20:10-15).

According to the word of God, many who were happy in life are now unhappy after death because they now know how serious life was and how permanent death is (2 Samuel 12:23; Job 7:7-10).

A robber is a person who will burglarize property, uses a weapon or strong arms victims of their goods (Obadiah 5; Luke 12:33,39; Luke 10:30; Exodus 22:3,4,7,8; John 18:40; 2 Corinthians 11:26).

After the harm is done to the victim, the robber enjoys the fruits of his spoils and thinks about the next victim (Proverbs 1:1-14). But, robbers fail to understand the eyes of God are watching, and He has made it very clear that the career of a robber won’t last because his own works will destroy him (Proverbs 15:3, 21:7; Psalms 94:9-11).

God has commanded man not to steal but to do honest work for a living (Ephesians 4:28). Yet, we continue to see people enticed to commit robbery and even add murder to the evil actions because victims refuse to give up their goods.

Possessions belong to those who work honestly to achieve, and not to some loser who comes along pointing a weapon and demanding that they give it up.

People work hard to buy their televisions, but some person breaks in and carries it off. A person works hard for a paycheck, but someone attacks him at the atm and runs off with the cash. This behavior has got to end, and it will when offenders get locked up, die, or the end of the world comes (Hebrews 4:13). No robbing! Get a job!

What have they seen in your house? (2 Kings 20:15). In the news last week was a house in California with children being starved and held captive by the parents.

That makes this question relevant. No one in the neighborhood supposedly knew what was going on. Does that mean that no one in the neighborhood had been inside that house? Though the years, we have heard some horror stories about things happening inside houses and neighbors not knowing the evil existing right under their noses.

The word of the Lord teaches men to be neighborly because living beside another carries a lot of responsibly (Proverbs 3:29). One day it may come down to a matter of life or death. That neighbor might be the lifeline if you are having a heart attack or stroke, etc. Do you want to be involved in evil deeds and cannot have others come inside lest they see? Do you want to continue being unfriendly toward that neighbor? Think about this before the emergency arrives. But I suppose cases like the California house will continue and that is sad indeed. But if you are inspired to attempt to change things, great!

In order to void out something which the Bible teaches, people will say, “It’s 2018.” Meaning the teachings of the Bible will not work in today’s times. But is that true? The answer is no, it isn’t. If God exists, which He does, and the Bible is His word, which it is, then His word, like Himself is eternal and will outlast the end of time (Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:23-25; Psalm 119:89).

People are mistaken to think that centuries erase the scriptures, instead time proves that the scriptures are the word of God because nothing can top it (Deuteronomy 4:8). And these words of our God still stand and are suited to govern the character of man in every century and these words will judge man at the day of judgment (John 12.48; Revelation 20:12).

On one last note, the Bible is composed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament began with Moses at Mount Sinai and continued until Jesus died on the cross replacing it with the New Testament. The New Testament will now remain and be the standard of judgment until the end of time. So when reading the Bible remember that.

A lot of people come to church for the wrong reason. I mean people will come to the church seeking everything but God.

The church has inquiries about money, getting married, a place to stay, looking for a spouse, Christmas baskets, can you help me get a car? etc. Where is the love for the knowledge of God? Where is the respect for the real existence of church? (Isaiah 2:1-3). Why can’t men come to the church and ask, “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37, 9:6, 16:29-30).

The church is supposed to be the place where man learns the word of God (1 Timothy 3:15). The place where man comes to worship God (John 4:24). It is not to be a place that cleans up the materialistic problems of men because material things are the responsibility of each person that creates them (Galatians 6:5).

Sure, in the New Testament the local church relieved the needs of its own members, but it was never the place where men brought their material desires to be cleaned up (Acts 4:32-35).

If a person wants to be saved, wants to learn about the Lord, wants to learn how they can get their life in order so that they can go to heaven, the church is the right place to go because it is the where the saved are found (Acts 2:47; John 10:9).

Fire is hot—it is just too intense to be close to (Daniel 3:19-22). When a house is on fire, the firemen can just barely stay long enough to pour the water on it, and there will be no storage of firemen taking breaks from the flames. Hell fire is coming, and it is coming to punish those who have lived an evil life (Matthew 25:41; Jude 14-15; Matt. 4:7,12; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. I’m speaking from the point that being near fire is unpleasant. How much more uncomfortable can it be if one is thrown in and cannot get out for all eternity? (Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:15; Matt. 13:40-50; Luke 16:24). Such is the punishment that God has in store for the wicked at the Judgment, when all will stand before Him and be judged according to their works (Rev. 20:12; Romans 14:9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 4:13; 1 Cor. 4:5, 3:13; Ecclesiastes 12:14; 2 Peter 2:9).

So, what can a person do to escape this terrible fate which is coming, despite some who believe not? (2 Peter 3:3-13).

The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to anyone who will accept it (Rom. 1:16). But, don’t wait too long because tomorrow isn’t promised, and there is no repentance after death (Hebrews 3:15; James 4:14; John 8:21).

This is a new year, and you have been blessed by God to be alive and part of it (Psalm 34:1). As you look back at the past year, I’m sure it is full of things which you regret and wished you could change. But once a deed is done, it is done (Ecclesiastes 11:3). However, obeying the word of God sets in place a new and better way of existence (Romans 6:1-23). Past deeds are forgotten by God and will never be brought up again (Hebrews 10:17). So yes, becoming a Christian has great advantages, and why wouldn’t a person not want to be a part of Jesus’ family? (Galatians 3:26-29).

Now, here is the scary part: if obedience to the gospel isn’t done, all past deeds will be brought up at the Judgement, even if the person had quit doing them long ago (2 Corinthians 5:10). That will happen because the person is still in sin that sin hasn’t been washed away (Acts 22:16). So many aren’t aware of the danger they are in. We are speaking about eternity and all the souls that need God. Lost souls need to be saved and since no one is promised tomorrow, what are they waiting for? Now is the time to be honest with yourself, the soul you save will be your own (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Mark 16:15-16).

We can get rid of stress by saying no to projects that are too much for us. We must realize that our stress level shoots though the roof, when allowing others to over load us. The wise thing is to speak up and refuse to let men use us for dump trucks. People cannot know our limitations, so don’t let them be our judges. Make sure that relaxing time is left for self and above all things, learn to trust in God (Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 10:38-42; Philippians 4:6; Ephesians 5:15-16).

In 1 Samuel chapter 25, we are introduced to Nabal, a selfish rich man. This guy oppressed his employees daily as they broke their backs with sweat and blood to keep him rich. In verse 8, David asked Nabal to help him out with food and supplies, since he had helped Nabal shepherds look after the livestock and keep them free from thieves and wolves. But Nabal insulted David saying, “you won’t get a crumb from me” (verse 10-11). David and his men then planned to kill Nabal, but the shepherds reported their intentions to Nabal wife. And she, being a sensible woman, brought the supplies to David without Nabal knowledge and stopped the slaughter of her husband. Later on, Nabal found out that his wife helped David, and he became angry and appeared to have suffered a stroke and he died (verse 35-38). After reading this story, I wonder just how many Nabal’s are living today. This man had plenty and was too stingy to share with others.

We have heard it many times before, a house burns down and people suffer injury or death. But then we see a fireman saying “there were no working smoke detectors in the house.”

Those words cause us to lament the lost of life or health because none took the time to do what was needed in order to protect themselves.

Well, let me use that example in another way. The Bible which is the word of God, is our smoke detector. Do you have one? And as for batteries, are you doing what His word commands you? You see, it is one thing to have a Bible in your house, but a totally different thing to be doing what it teaches (Luke 6:46; John 15:14, 8:31-32).

If we can be of help to you in learning God’s will for your life, let us help you with a Bible study (Acts 8:26-40, 16:11-15, 17:11).